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Full Text of Decision

35885

41479 SERVICE DATE –
MARCH 7, 2012

DO

SURFACE
TRANSPORTATION BOARD

DECISION

Docket No. FD 35353

VFRC, LLC–ACQUISITION EXEMPTION–UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
COMPANY

Decided: March 6,
2012

On February 22, 2010,
VFRC, LLC (VFRC), a noncarrier, filed a verified notice of exemption under
49 C.F.R. § 1150.31 to acquire certain physical assets of a rail line and
the underlying right-of-way from Union Pacific Railroad Company, between
milepost 682.25, near Greenberry, Or., and milepost 687.6, near Corvallis, Or. (the Line), a distance of approximately 5.35 miles. The notice was served
and published in the Federal Register on March 10, 2010 (75 Fed.
Reg. 11,224).

Subsequently, on June 30, 2010,
VFRC filed a motion to dismiss its notice. VFRC asserted that the Board did
not have regulatory authority over the transaction and that the transaction’s
consummation did not render VFRC a common carrier. After reviewing the record,
the Board expressed concern in a March 1, 2011 decision that language in the
Line’s operating agreement between VFRC and Albany & Eastern Railroad
Company vested too much control in the hands of VFRC. To allay these concerns,
the Board offered VRFC an opportunity to submit an amended agreement.

By letter dated July 6, 2011, VFRC states that
it has attempted to work around the Board’s concerns but has been unable to
satisfy both the Board’s concerns and protect its own interests. VFRC
therefore requests to withdraw its motion to dismiss. VRFC’s request will be
granted.

This action will not significantly affect either
the quality of the human environment or the conservation of energy resources.